Codemasters ressurect a cult classic with Overlord: Fellowship of Evil

Codemasters are set to hit Xbox One with a top-down action RPG based on the Overlord franchise.

Codemasters are a UK based studio who enjoy an incredibly rich history. Perhaps most famous for various racing games, such as DiRT and Colin McRae Rally, but Codemasters have also turned their hand to other genres.

Overlord was a third person action RPG, which tasked players to take control of an Overlord, and micro-manage an army of minions with various abilities. Overlord for me always carried a very Fable-esque vibe, featuring very British tongue in cheek humour, a morality metagame and a rich colour pallet.

Overlord: Fellowship of Evil will sport elements of the cult classic Xbox 360 games of yesteryear, with some significant gameplay revisions.

In Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, the minions, bereft of their beloved Overlord, travel the land to seek an alternative dictator. They happen upon the Netherghul, a troupe of 4 undead villains (or character classes), who must escape the realm of the Netherdeep to bring chaos to the world in the Overlord's absence.

Overlord: Fellowship of Evil looks to be taking the flavour and features of the Overlord franchise and slamming them into a colourful Diablo-like paradigm. The top-down view and four player co-op will be familiar to most. But Codemasters look to be injecting a healthy dose of chaos into the formula with Overlord's minions, and the ability to turn on your co-op partners to further your dominance.

Executive Producer Rob Elser had this to say:

...We've been scheming about a new Overlord for some time. We really wanted to do something that would allow us be evil alongside our friends, instead of the normal heroics in every other game. The idea of playing as a team of bad guys commanding Minions to do our utmost bidding, while also causing chaos for each other, just really made us smile. And as you know, an Overlord game never takes itself too seriously...

Overlord: Fellowship of Evil features, in Codemasters' own words:

Series signature dark, mischievous humour: Kick a minion for pretending to be Gandalf! Destroy a troll couple who have been making minion soup in the Overlord's helmet! Rhianna Pratchett returns with a twisted and hilarious tale of evil, chaos, Minions and the burning desire to destroy all things good!

Invade. Smite. Loot! Work your way through the Netherworld and unleash hell on the world above! Trample the weak under your evil size 10s with fun and satisfying combat, combining unique abilities and melee attacks to dominate all who stand before you! Share loot or steal the spoils- how far are you willing to go on your quest to be the ultimate anti-hero?

Four times the players, four times the fun! Evil has a new face. Well, four faces, actually. But who wears the evilist? Er, eviler? You decide! Pick from any of four distinct Netherghul characters, each with unique abilities. Play as a team, or screw each other over – evil never plays by the rules!

As a fan of the original games, I'm glad to see Overlord making a comeback!